The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 26, June 26, 2005, Article 20

COL. GREEN AND THE WITCH OF WALL STREET

The Motley Fool, a popular investing newsletter, published
a story on June 24th by Richard Gibbons on Hetty Green,
"The Witch of Wall Street." Green's son, Col. E.H.R.
Green, also known as Ned, became one of the greatest
collectors of U.S. coins (and many other things). I've
excerpted part of the story here; it's pretty well known,
but so fascinating it bears repeating.

"Hetty's attire was distinctive, if not fashionable. The cheapest
and longest-lasting footwear she could find were fisherman's
boots, so she clomped around in rubber boots while conducting
business in prominent investment banks. Every day, she wore
the same long black dress, only buying new clothes when her
outfit became threadbare. And her clothes weren't really even
clean. Hetty would not wash her bedding or underclothes, or
even her entire dress. She would only wash the hem of the dress,
where it dragged on the ground, since she could do that for less
than it would cost to clean the entire thing.

She worked, surrounded by most of her possessions and
securities, inside a vault in the Chemical National Bank, now
a subsidiary of J.P. Morgan Chase. The bank manager ignored
the boots and allowed her to use the vault as her "office" for free.

Probably the most extreme example of her miserliness was
when Hetty's son, Ned, injured his leg in a sledding accident.
She didn't want to pay for a doctor, so she dressed Ned in
rags and took him to a charitable clinic. Unfortunately, the
doctor recognized Hetty and demanded $150 for the treatment.
She refused and attempted to take care of Ned herself. It didn't
work out so well. Ned developed gangrene and the leg had to
be amputated. At the time, Hetty was worth about $50 million."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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